The Broken Hourglass Series: The Sleeping Maiden
by TrollKastell
Summary: Living in the slums of New York, two siblings are taken under the wing of the gods. But what happens when they discover who they really are? And will they rescue the goddess of wisdom before its too late?
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan does. Heck, the only things I own are my Original Characters. Also, there might be a bit of slash at some chapters.

New York City.

The city of dreams, hopes. Where travelers (and their stocks) go to once they have proven their worth in other places, and are ready to take on anything that could happen. It is here that one tale ended, a summer ago. And now, a new tale begins anew, its threads slowly being spun by the Fates.

It was 12:50 A.M. The average after-effects of reading at the local library began to settle on Annabeth as she stumbled outside of the building. She couldn't help it, though. That was the kind of party she had in mind. Words and phrases, intermingling with one another. As she was pondering on the angle bisector of the Empire State Building's perpendicularity to Broadway, a painful screech echoed off an alleyway that lay behind her, it's screech reaching into a painful crescendo. How anyone could not her that, even at 1:00 in the morning, Annabeth had no idea.

Unsheathing her bronze dagger, Annabeth donned her Yankees cap, causing her form to ripple and vanish. Sneaking towards the alleyway with the sound of droplets unnerving her, she found a lady, most likely in her late thirties, clutching a bundle of pale yellow cloth in her arms. Before her were at least half a dozen of dracaenae carrying spears and weighted nets, their sickly green skin gleaming hauntingly.

Sprinting and causing several of the dracaenae to wonder what was causing the sound of footsteps, Annabeth slashed at the first row that was closing in on the mother and child. Taking advantage of this, Annabeth spun even more, hacking and dissolving more monsters to dust before tucking her cap in her bag. _It's useless now,_she though tactically to herself,_ they'll form a defensive formation if I stay invisible._

"Th-thank you", the mother mutter to Annabeth "we'll just stay put and hope we don't get eaten."

Promising to the mother that nothing bad would happen to them, Annabeth prepared to attack before the battalion parted in half, revealing a much larger dracaena with dual swords pulsating with green energy, making Annabeth's eyes hurt. _She's the commander. Gotta be careful._

"Ssssooo, not just one demigod, but two, eh? Thisssss will be a good ceremony." It announced, raising her swords in the air. Slithering its way towards Annabeth, it cut the place where she would've been, had she not rolled and ducked to avoid it. Countering with a jab, she aimed for a chink in her armor. But then, a weighted net entwined itself around her foot, obviously thrown from one of the dracaena's comrades. The net made it a difficult task to move, and Annabeth couldn't cut it with her knife. While praying to Athena that a swarm of owls might peck the commander into pieces, she heard a sound that was akin to a gunshot. No, it was a gunshot, because where the commander dracaena was earlier, there was only a pile of dust.

Startled, Anabeth raised her eyes and more dracaenae were turning to dust. Some looked like they were slashed and cut with a sword, while others looked like they were shot at with a shotgun. After Annabeth heard one more gunshot, the last three of the dracaenae were gone. Suddenly put on edge, she backed up towards the mother and child, and stood up, in an attempt to protect them.

"Whoever you are, come out and show yourself!" She yelled, her voice shaking with determination.

Two singsong voices rang out of the alleyway, "Don't worry, we won't hurt anyone. We're here to help, right?"


	2. Chapter 2

Again, I don't own The Percy Jackson series. I suck at writing. Slash at some chapters. Oh, and flames of all types are welcome! 

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_Just another average day in my life_, Percy thought to himself.

As soon as Annabeth alerted them, Grover and Percy dashed down the street towards her apartment complex. They still couldn't get over the fact that Annabeth, who had stayed and trained at camp for more than 5 years, was saved by two kids.

'Perrrcy, it's this way!" Grover bleated from a street away. Percy skidded and spun around, a shaky Grover waiting for him. Together, they sprinted down the street, dodging cars and Percy occasionally cursing in Greek at some cars. Grover cantered along, clutching onto his crutches.

"How'd they do it?" He asked Grover, his voice full of curiosity and his eyes story as they processed thoughts that were floating in front of them, "Y'know, beat an entire battalion of dracaenae?"

"Y'know what they say, Perce. There's always someone better." Grover panted, straining under the excess baggage of his fake feet, causing drag and slowing him down. However, he managed to keep up to speed with Percy.

After crossing several lanes of traffic and Grover getting almost hit by a truck, the two were now staring at Annabeth's apartment complex. It was like any other ordinary building in New York, its rust-red bricks giving off a rustic feel. The gray stepping stones were blotted green due to the presence of moss on their surface. The slightly rusted, black, wrought iron railings stained the wind with its tangy scent.

Crossing the yard using the stepping stones, Percy rang the doorbell to Annabeth's room, while Grover nibbled on a vine that was crawling on the facade. After several moments, Percy could hear steps going down the stairway inside.

With a low creak, the door gave way and Annabeth's face popped out. A cautious look was plastered on her face, but soon melted, replaced with one of relief.

"What took you so long, Seaweed Brain?" She yelped, as she tackled Percy towards the grass and hugging him.

"Gah! Annabeth, okay, I get it!" He pushed her to the side and stood up, lending a hand to Annabeth and helping her up. After a bit of rambling about her time at San Francisco, the square root of the height of the Empire State building, and more stuff the made his brain sleep, she finally asked Percy, "Did you bring Grover?"

Percy gestured towards his satyr friend, who was busy nibbling on the vine like a chipmunk who hadn't seen an acorn for weeks. He swaggered towards the pair, belched towards Percy's face, and questioned Annabeth, "What'cha call me for, Annabeth? What's so important you dragged me all the way here from Camp?"

She glanced around, her face dark like the time they went to a museum and she got lost. When Percy and Grover found her, she was cowering between two stuffed prehistoric spiders, both the size of a CPU unit. She passed out for 3 days after that. When she finished glancing around, however, her face lit up, and dragged the two men inside. Closing the door behind her, she towed Percy and Grover over several floors' worth of stairs and sped down a corridor. She broke down what must've been the door to her apartment, threw them onto a grey sofa with owl carvings at the armrests, and sped down the corridor.

Waiting for Annabeth, Percy toured her apartment. There was a kitchen to the right, with a stove. He wondered what Annabeth did more often here, chemistry or real cooking. Percy paced towards her bedroom, its bedpost carved with owls. Silk draperies and bedsheets littered the floor. He then turned and went back towards the sofa, just in time as Annabeth walked in. She locked the door turned to face them, and announced "It's safe now."

Annabeth went to a corner that Percy hadn't noticed before. She seemed to be talking to someone, although the headrest made it difficult to tell who she was talking to. A moment of silence, and two figures were led by Annabeth from the corner sofa to the one opposite of Percy.

The two could've passed as twins. The first one was a shy boy, with a shock of white hair on his head. He clutched a teddy bear on his right, making him look childish despite his age, which from what Percy could tell, was around twelve. He wore a pastel pink hoodie over a sky-blue t-shirt. His legs were dressed with grey pants, and his feet had checkered white-and-black Vans on them. His sister wore a black blouse under a yellow cardigan, which accented her long, dark hair. She wore ripped, blue navy jeans and for her feet, a pair of dark purple Converse framed them. They sat on a sofa similar to the one Percy was on, except this one was blue, and juxtaposed opposite to them. The pair were led to a sofa similar to the one Percy was sitting on, except this one was coloured blue and had scallop engravings on the armrests, in lieu of the owls.

"Percy, Grover, this is Ryan and Bea." She gestured towards the pair. "They're my-"

"Let me guess, cousins." Grover cut in, his voice cracking slightly, "So what do you want me to do? Babysit a pair of-ow!"

Before Grover could finish his comment, Bea grasped Ryan's hand, much to his dismay. After a moment, she let go, but not before a welt appeared on Grover's head. Annabeth ran to the kitchen, while Percy mused his thoughts on who they were. Percy would've laughed, but something about the siblings seemed to have shifted. The positions of their eyes, a giggle crawling up Ryan's mouth that wasn't there before. "What did you do?", he asked.

"If we told you," The siblings said, their voices in sync with one another, "you wouldn't believe us."

"I've got the ice!" Annabeth said, holding a plastic ice bag and handing it to Grover. She cantered towards Percy and whispered into his ear, excitement brimming in her voice, "See? They're demigods!"

"Who are their parents?" He asked, remembering his deal with the Olympians last year.

Annabeth tilted her head to the side, contemplating on whether or not to tell her boyfriend. "Honestly, Percy? They don't know."

He clenched his fists and cursed in Ancient Greek. _Well , _he thought in an effort to calm himself down, _They're probably not thirteen yet, right?_

"Anyway," Annabeth continued, sensing her boyfriend about to explode a gasket, "may they'll get claimed once they're at Camp."

With that idea, they all went outside and waited at the sidewalk as Annabeth hailed them a taxi. She asked the driver to drop them off at Half-Blood Hill, the usual drop-off point for demigods going to camp. Passing through concrete and buildings, Percy made a mental note to tell his mom that he was at camp.

As the taxi wheeled of the highway and the scenery changed from urban skyline to grassy fields, Percy could hear Annabeth and the siblings discussing, while Grover was chewing on a tin can. From what Percy heard, the siblings were twins, and were housed in an orphanage when they were young. Tired of the decrepit conditions there, they ran away, and on the same eve, got jobs as waiters in a run-down, local diner. Most of their pay went to their apartment's rent, so the best they could get was 2 meals a day. They got their clothes by, er, "borrowing" them from a nearby Forever 21 branch.

As he thought on this, Percy's sea blue eyes turned as stormy as the eye of a storm, welling with tears of sorrow for the siblings. _At least I get a vacation in Montauk from time to time, _he sorrowfully mused, _but these kids, they deserve something. They spend their lives without support, love and they get this? _

"It's not that bad, though." Bea piped up, as if she could read Percy's thoughts, "I mean, I have my brother, right? For me, that's all I could ever want." Her look in her eyes was sincere, almost as if that she was obsessed over her brother. Percy could relate to this, because a few years ago, before his mother married Blowfis the English teacher, she was married to Mr. Ugliano. He had the stench of a pair of onions wrapped in gym socks, then tossed into a sewer, earning him the coveted title of "Smelly Gabe". Fortunately, when Percy finished his first summer at Camp Half-Blood, his mother decided to enter a "sculpture" entitled "The Poker Player. This work reaped numerous awards and helped her in her collage education.

After several more minutes of awkward silence, they finally reached the steep dirt path that led to the peak of Half-Blood Hill. At the peak, amidst patches of golden and ruby flowers, stood a tall pine tree. At its lowest bough hung a gold sheep skin, its shine scattering light in multiple directions. Percy couldn't help but smile, as that tree a few years ago was his friend, Thalia. After he and Annabeth retrieved the Golden Fleece, though, the curse was lifted, and Thalia returned back to human form, seemingly to have aged only several months. She now roams the country as the head lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, the handmaids of the goddess of the moon. These girls were gifted with immortality, and in return for the goddess' kindness, turn their hearts away from men and spend their lives doing the wishes of the goddess.

As Percy helped unload the bags, he couldn't help but get this amazing feeling, a feeling that he only gets at two places, here, at Camp Half-Blood, and at home, with his mom. And right now, having two new campers to join his circle, that feeling burned straight through towards his heart.

Wholesomeness.


End file.
